Methods and systems for representing, using and displaying time-varying information on the Semantic Web

ABSTRACT

Methods and systems for providing start and stop properties to Semantic Web structured resources and statements are disclosed. The start and stop properties can specify a lifetime during which a resource or statement can be valid. A call or query to one or more resources can return statement data including the start and stop properties for the resources and/or statements. Dates can be specified with the call or query such that the returned resources and statements have lifetimes including the specified dates. Screen images of the data can display subject and object nodes and predicate arcs for the selected dates. A sequence of screen images can display a timeline of nodes and arcs by adding or hiding nodes and arcs to correspond with the start and stop properties of the statements. Tools are provided for the user to navigate through the sequence.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application claims priority to, and incorporates byreference, the entire disclosure of U.S. Provisional Patent ApplicationNo. 60/465,925, filed on Apr. 28, 2003. This application is co-pendingwith a related patent application entitled “Methods and Apparatus forFocusing Search Results on the Semantic Web” (Attorney Docket No.03-4027PRO1), by the same inventor and having assignee in common, filedconcurrently herewith and incorporated by reference herein in itsentirety.

GOVERNMENT INTEREST

[0002] The United States Government has a paid-up license in thisinvention and the right in limited circumstances to require the patentowner to license to others on reasonable terms as provided for by theterms of Contract No. F30602-00-C-0178 awarded by the Defense AdvancedResearch Projects Agency.

FIELD

[0003] The methods and systems relate to representing, using anddisplaying information, and more particularly to methods and systems forrepresenting, using and displaying time-varying information on theSemantic Web.

BACKGROUND

[0004] The Semantic Web is an evolving collection of software tools andcontent, which provides information on the Internet, or World Wide Web,in such a way that it can be readily used by intelligent agents andother computer programs. Information on the Semantic Web, rather thanbeing in natural language text, can be maintained in a structureworkable by both computers and people. The Resource DescriptionFramework (RDF) from the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) underlies mostSemantic Web efforts. RDF consists of statements(subject-predicate-object triples) made about instances of specificclasses (similar to an object-oriented programming language).

[0005] The Resource Description Framework (RDF) is a general frameworkfor how to describe an Internet resource such as a Web site and itscontent. An Internet resource is defined herein as a resource with aUniform Resource Identifier (URI), including the Uniform ResourceLocators (URLs) that identify Web sites as well as specific Web pages.Resources can also be physical objects (such as people) represented onWeb pages. As with known HyperText Markup Language (HTML) META tags, theRDF description statements, encased as part of an Extensible MarkupLanguage (XML) section, can be included within a Web page (HTML file),or can be in separate files.

[0006] RDF description statements can be represented as graphscontaining nodes (instances or string literals) and arcs (statements).FIG. 6A provides an example of such a graph for an RDF statement of theform, “Mike Thornton has a father Joe Thornton.” For this RDF statement,“Mike Thornton” is the subject, “father” is the predicate, and “JoeThornton” is the object. In the exemplary diagram, or graph of FIG. 6A,the ovals can illustrate nodes representing resources (ovals 2 and 4),and arcs can represent the named property, as shown by arc 6. Thedirection of the arc can be from subject (2) to object (4). It can beunderstood that other representations besides the illustrated ovals anddirectional arcs can be used.

[0007]FIG. 6B illustrates a graph of a collection of statements in which“Mike Thornton” (using an abbreviated form to represent a full URI) canbe both the subject and object of various ones of the statements,including, “Jason Thornton has a father Mike Thornton,” and “MikeThornton is married to Nancy Frier.” The subject “Jason Thornton” isrepresented by oval 8 and predicate “father” is represented by arc 10from subject “Jason Thornton” (oval 8) to object “Mike Thornton” (oval2). The object “Nancy Frier” is represented by oval 12 and predicate“married to” is represented by arc 14 from subject “Mike Thornton” (oval2) to object “Nancy Frier” (oval 12).

[0008] While such graphs as illustrated in FIGS. 6A and 6B canpictorially present the properties of subjects and objects, they can doso in a static fashion. For example, FIG. 6C can illustrate an extendedgraph for statements concerning “Mike Thornton” taken from agenealogical resource. In addition to the statements in FIG. 6B, FIG. 6Ccan include the statements shown in Table 1. Statement Subject(Identifier) Predicate (Identifier) Object (Identifier) Mike Thorntonhas a Mike Thornton (2) mother (16) Louise Hensley (18) mother LouiseHensley Noah Thornton has a Noah Thornton (22) father (24) Mike Thornton(2) father Mike Thornton Jason Thornton has a Jason Thornton (8) mother(20) Nancy Frier (12) mother Nancy Frier Noah Thornton has a NoahThornton (22) mother (26) Nancy Frier (12) mother Nancy Frier JoeThornton is married Joe Thornton (4) married to (28) Louise Hensley (18)to Louise Hensley

[0009] It can be seen that Mike Thornton is neither the subject norobject of the last three statements in Table 1. However, thesestatements can be included in the graphical representation as havingboth subjects and objects in common with statements concerning “MikeThornton.”

[0010] Without additional statements providing dates for such events asbirths, deaths or marriages, a user cannot determine time varyinginformation from the graphs of FIGS. 6A-C. For example, one cannotassess whether Noah is older or younger than Jason, or the relative agesof other individuals shown. Other time varying information, such asmultiple marriages, can also present difficulties for therepresentations of FIGS. 6A-C. Methods and systems are needed fordetermining and graphically representing such information from SemanticWeb structured resources to a user.

SUMMARY

[0011] The methods and systems described herein can include providingstart and stop time properties to Semantic Web structured resources andstatements. The start and stop time properties can specify a lifetimeduring which a resource or statement can be valid. A call or query toone or more resources can return statement data including the start andstop properties for the subjects and objects of the statements, and/orthe statements themselves. Dates can be specified with the call or querysuch that the returned statements have lifetimes that include thespecified dates. The specified dates can be used by a filter afterobtaining the data for the query. Screen images of the data can displaysubject and object nodes and predicate arcs for the statement data. Asequence of screen images can display a timeline of nodes and arcs byadding or hiding nodes and arcs to correspond with the start and stopproperties of the statements and nodes. Tools can be provided for theuser to navigate through the sequence.

[0012] In one embodiment, a method of displaying Semantic Web statementshaving start properties and stop properties related to lifetimes of thestatements includes displaying subjects and objects of the statements asnodes, displaying predicates of the statements as arcs connecting thenodes and labeled by the predicates, and hiding the nodes and arcs forsubjects, objects, and statements having lifetimes outside of atimeframe selected by a user. Hiding can comprise painting the nodes andarcs of those statements to match a background of the display. Oneaspect of the embodiment includes providing tools by which the user canselect the timeframe. The user can be given options to select a starttimeframe corresponding to an earliest one of the start properties ofthe statements, to select an end timeframe corresponding to a latest oneof the start properties of the statements, and/or to select a timeframeincrement for displaying the statements in temporal order correspondingto the start properties and the stop properties of the statements. Nodescan be labeled with their URI's or with the value of a literal property,such as a name, which may itself vary over time based on the start andstop time properties of statements using that property.

[0013] In one embodiment, a system for displaying graphicalrepresentations of time varying information for Semantic Web structuredstatements includes a processor connected to Semantic Web structuredresources and receiving input from a user, including a query to retrieveselected statements matching the query. Application program interfaces(APIs) determine the selected statements from the resource and obtainthe start and stop properties for subjects and objects of the matchingstatements and for the statements themselves. The APIs also determinegraphical representation data from the selected statements and theirproperties. The processor receives the graphical representation data andcontrol a display to present the graphical representations of theselected statements. The processor controls the display to hidegraphical representations of those statements whose lifetime does notinclude a timeframe input by the user. The system include an applicationtool set operable by the user to input the timeframe, wherein the usercan select timeframe increments corresponding to the start and stopproperties of the selected statements.

[0014] In one embodiment, a method of displaying graphicalrepresentations of time varying information for Semantic Web structuredstatements from Semantic Web resources includes receiving a query toretrieve selected statements that match a query, determining theselected statements from the Semantic Web structured resources,obtaining start and stop properties for subjects and objects of theselected statements and for the statements themselves, determininggraphical representation data for the selected statements and theproperties, filtering the graphical representation data to control adisplay to present graphical representations of the statements, andcontrolling the display to hide the graphical representations of thosestatements whose lifetimes exclude a selected timeframe.

[0015] In one embodiment, a computer-readable medium includesinstructions for controlling a processor to associate a lifetime with aSemantic Web structured statement by implementing a start property forthe statement that denotes a start time when the statement becomesvalid, and implementing a stop property for the statement that denotes astop time when the statement ceases to be valid, wherein the lifetime ofthe statement is denoted by a time interval between the start time andthe stop time. The start property and the stop property can beimplemented as an XML Schema Datatype, including an xsd:dateTimedatatype, an xsd:date datatype and/or a xsd:gYear datatype.

[0016] The instructions include instructions for controlling a processorto display a plurality of statements on a display by displaying subjectsand objects of the statements as nodes, displaying predicates of thestatements as arcs connecting the nodes, and hiding nodes and arcs forparticular statements when a selected display timeframe is outside thelifetimes of those particular statements. The instructions includeinstructions for controlling a processor to hide the nodes and arcs bypainting the nodes and arcs for those particular statements to match abackground of the display.

[0017] The instructions include instructions for controlling a processorto display a toolset operable by a user to select said timeframe. Thetoolset can be operable by the user to select a start timeframecorresponding to an earliest one of said start properties of saidstatements, to select an end timeframe corresponding to a latest one ofsaid stop properties of said statements, and/or to select timeframeincrements for displaying the statements in temporal order correspondingto their start properties and stop properties.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0018] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in andconstitute a part of this specification, illustrate several embodimentsof the invention and together with the description, serve to explain theprinciples of the invention.

[0019]FIG. 1 illustrates a screen image of a graphical representation ofstatements taken from a Semantic Web resource;

[0020]FIGS. 2A-2I illustrate time varying graphical representations ofthe statements of FIG. 1;

[0021]FIG. 3 illustrates a system for providing time varying graphicalrepresentations of statements from a Semantic Web resource;

[0022]FIG. 4 illustrates a flow chart of a method of implementing timevarying graphical representations of statements from a Semantic Webresource;

[0023]FIG. 5A illustrates a statement associated directly with start andstop properties; and

[0024]FIG. 5B illustrates a statement having multiple Intervalinstances.

[0025]FIG. 5C illustrates a reified version of a statement.

[0026]FIGS. 6A-6C illustrate prior art graphical representations ofstatements from Semantic Web structured resources;

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0027] To provide an overall understanding, certain illustrativeembodiments will now be described; however, it will be understood by oneof ordinary skill in the art that the systems and methods describedherein can be adapted and modified to provide systems and methods forother suitable applications and that other additions and modificationscan be made without departing from the scope of the systems and methodsdescribed herein.

[0028] Unless otherwise specified, the illustrated embodiments can beunderstood as providing exemplary features of varying detail of certainembodiments, and therefore, unless otherwise specified, features,components, modules, and/or aspects of the illustrations can beotherwise combined, separated, interchanged, and/or rearranged withoutdeparting from the disclosed systems or methods. Additionally, theshapes and sizes of components are also exemplary and unless otherwisespecified, can be altered without affecting the disclosed systems ormethods.

[0029]FIG. 1 shows a screen image of a graphical representation of RDFstatements from a Semantic Web resource. For simplicity, the graphicalrepresentation of FIG. 1 can include the statements from thegenealogical resource as in FIG. 6C. The elements in FIG. 1 havingnumbering offset by 100 from those of FIG. 6C refer to correspondingelements of the statements described with respect to FIG. 6C. It can beunderstood that the numbering of elements in FIG. 1 and other figuresdescribed further herein, is shown for ease in describing the featuresof the graphical representations and need not be viewable by a user.

[0030] In addition to the subject, predicate and object for eachstatement, the RDF statements and Semantic Web resources for use withthe methods and systems described herein can have associated start andstop properties. The time interval starting with a specified start timeand before a specified stop time can be referred to as the lifetime ofthe statement or resource. Closed lifetimes include lifetimes havingboth start and stop times specified. Open-ended lifetimes include thosehaving one of the start or stop times specified. Infinite lifetimesinclude those having neither a start or stop time specified.

[0031] The Resource Description Framework (RDF) from the World Wide WebConsortium (W3C) can underlie most Semantic Web efforts. Whileimplementation of the start and stop properties can include variousknown protocols or datatypes for providing and communicating suchproperties among resources and applications, the use of standardizedprotocols, properties, and datatypes can be preferred so as to providefor wide use of the methods and systems described herein. Thus, in oneembodiment, the start and stop properties can make use of thexsd:dateTime datatype from the W3C XML Schema Datatypes Recommendation,though other datatypes, e.g., xsd:date or xsd:gYear, can be used.

[0032] If multiple time intervals are associated with a given statementor resource (instance), e.g., a marriage relation between two people whodivorce and then remarry each other, then instances of the classInterval can be used to group start/stop intervals. Thus, rather thanhaving start and stop properties associated directly with the object orstatement, the statement can have multiple Interval instances, whicheach can have its own start and stop properties.

[0033]FIG. 5A illustrates an example of statement 502 (a reifiedverstion of statement is shown in FIG. 5C) having start property 504 andstop property 506 directly associated with statement 502. FIG. 5Billustrates the example of FIG. 5A, wherein statement 502 has multipleinstances 508, 510 of the class Interval 512. Instance 508, withrespective start and stop properties 504 and 506, corresponds with theinterval for statement 502 of FIG. 5A, while instance 510 shows theaddition to statement 502 of a second interval with start property 514.For the marriage relation example discussed above, the first interval508 of the marriage can indicate the marriage (statement 502) began in1960 (start property 504) and ended in 1970 (stop property 506). Thesecond interval 510 can indicate that the same marriage, i.e., marriagebetween the same two people, began again in 1980 (start property 514).Intervals can be associated with instances as well as with statements.

[0034] In addition to its start and stop properties the lifetime of astatement can also be constrained by the lifetimes of resources that itcan reference as a subject or object. For example, a marriage relationends when one of the participants dies.

[0035] Start and stop properties will typically be associated withstatements by using RDF statementIDs. The use of RDF statementIDs canresult in both asserted and reified statements. The technique can beequally applied to content involving only reified statements. Whenapplied to such content, the graph structure for each reified statementcan be constructed explicitly without the use of statement IDs.

[0036] The screen images of FIGS. 1 and 2A-I can be described withrelation to the systems 200 and method 400 of FIGS. 3 and 4,respectively. FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary system 200 for presentingtime-varying information to a user 202 from one or more Semantic Webstructured resources 204. User 202 can connect to network 206 viaprocessor 208. One or more servers 210 can facilitate connections tonetwork 206 by user 202 and resources 204, though it can be understoodthat processor 208 and/or resources 204 can be configured for directconnection to network 206. Processor 208 can include a display 212 bywhich screen images, such as screen image 100 of FIG. 1 and the screenimages of FIGS. 2A-I can be viewed by the user 202.

[0037]FIG. 4 is a flow chart for a method 400 of implementing timevarying graphical representations of statements from a semantic webresource. User 202 of FIG. 3 can query (402) one or more Semantic Webstructured resources, such as resources 204 of FIG. 3, using ApplicationProgram Interfaces (APIs) 214. As previously described with respect toFIGS. 6A-C, APIs for Semantic Web languages can include modelscontaining sets of RDF Statements, as well as graphical representationslinking resources and statements. In addition, the APIs 214 of FIG. 3for the systems and methods described herein can include obtaining thestart and stop properties for the statements and resources selected bythe user 202 and using the start and stop properties in displaying timevarying graphical representation to user 202. While the APIs 214 areshown in FIG. 3 as directly accessible, or as part of processor 208, itcan be understood that servers 210 and/or resources 204 can include APIs214, or that APIs 214 can be distributed among one or more servers 210,and/or resources 204.

[0038] Table 2 shows exemplary stop and start properties for thesubjects, objects, and statements of FIG. 1. TABLE 2 Subject Object(Identifier) (Identifier) Start Predicate Start Statement Stop(Identifier) Stop Start Stop 1. Mike Mike Thornton father (106) JoeThornton May 29, 1957 Jun. 14, 1992 Thornton has (102) (104) a fatherJoe May 29, 1957 Mar. 16, 1928 Thornton — Jun. 14, 1992 2. Jason JasonThornton father (110) Mike Thornton Aug. 05, 1987 — Thornton has (108) —(102) a father Mike Aug. 05, 1987 May 29, 1957 Thornton — — 3. Mike MikeThornton married to (114) Nancy Frier Nov. 02, 1982 — Thornton is (102)(112) married to May 29, 1957 Aug. 19, 1958 Nancy Frier — — 4. Mike MikeThornton mother (116) Louise Hensley May 29, 1957 — Thorton has a (102)(118) mother May 29, 1957 Nov. 04, 1929 Louise — — Thornton 5. Noah NoahThornton father (124) Mike Thornton Feb. 15, 1994 — Thornton has (122)(102) a father Mike Feb. 15, 1994 May 29, 1957 Thornton — — 6. JasonJason Thornton mother (120) Nancy Frier Aug. 05, 1987 — Thornton has(108) (112) a mother Aug. 05, 1987 Aug. 19, 1958 Nancy Frier — — 7. NoahNoah Thornton mother (126) Nancy Frier Feb. 15, 1994 — Thornton has(122) (112) a mother Feb. 15, 1994 Aug. 19, 1958 Nancy Frier — — 8. JoeJoe Thornton married to (128) Louise Hensley Sep. 17, 1955 Jun. 14, 1992Thornton is (104) (118) married to Mar. 16, 1928 Nov. 04, 1929 LouiseJun. 14, 1992 — Hensley

[0039] As indicated in Table 2, start and stop properties can beassociated with the subjects and objects of the statements, as well asthe statements themselves. For example, the subject (Mike Thornton) ofstatement 1 of Table 2 has a start date of May 29, 1957, indicating MikeThornton's birth date, and an open stop date, indicating Mike Thorntonis living. The statement with predicate father has a start datecorresponding to Mike Thornton's birth date and a stop date of Jun. 14,1992, indicating the father relationship with Joe Thornton ends on thatdate. By looking at the object (Joe Thornton) stop date, it can be seenthat Jun. 14, 1992 corresponds to Joe Thornton's death, the reason forthe stop date for the statement.

[0040] In one embodiment consistent with the invention, start and startproperties can be associated with the statements and resources.Continuing with the example of statement 1 of Table 2, in thisembodiment statement 1 can have a start property of May 29, 1957,corresponding to the date Mike Thornton was born, and a stop property ofJun. 14, 1992. Without further information, the stop property can referto a number of events by which the father relationship of Mike and JoeThornton can end, including Mike's or Joe's death. In this embodiment,start and stop properties associated with subjects and objects can beused to obtain start and stop properties for the related statements aslisted in Table 2. For example, the statements “Joe Thornton has a birthevent of Mar. 16, 1928” “Joe Thornton has a death event of Jun. 14,1992” can be used to determine the start and stop properties for JoeThornton. The absence of a statement for a death event for Mike Thorntoncan indicate Mike Thornton has an open stop property. The above canillustrate that the lifetime of a statement can be further restrained bythe lifetimes of its subject and object.

[0041] Referring again to FIG. 4, APIs 214 of FIG. 3, in response to theuser 202 query, can obtain (404) the statements with start and stopproperties from resources 204 matching the user 202 query, including thestart and stop properties for the statements, as shown in Table 2, andcan determine (406) the corresponding data for the graphicalrepresentations. Processor 208 of FIG. 3 can receive (408) the data anddisplay (410) the corresponding screen image, such as image 100 ofFIG. 1. Screen image 100 includes a view 130 in which the graphicalrepresentation can be displayed. Screen image 100 includes one or morefile and view manipulation tools, such as pull down menus 132, actionbuttons 134 and scroll bar 136.

[0042] In addition to such known items or tools, screen image 100includes time varying activation buttons, including START button 138,NEXT button 140, PREV (previous) button 142 and END button 144. It canbe understood that varying means for implementing the functions oractions to be described with relation to the activation buttons can beused, including pull down menus, icons, keyboard entries, etc., and thatthe activation buttons shown in FIG. 1 are for illustrative purposes andare not restrictive as to the type, style and/or design of means user202 can employ for displaying the time varying data provided by APIs214. In the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 4, the choice of an activationbutton by user 202 is illustrated at 412.

[0043] When user 202 chooses start button 138, method 400 determines theearliest or base start property date (414), stores the date as thecurrent active date (416) and displays (418) the corresponding subjects,objects and/or statements. For the earliest property, the display caninclude the one subject or object corresponding to the earliest startproperty. In one embodiment, displaying the corresponding subject orobject at 418 includes hiding subjects, objects and statements not to bedisplayed as by painting those subjects, objects, or statements in thebackground color of the screen image. For the exemplary statements ofTable 2, the earliest start date (Mar. 16, 1928) corresponds with JoeThornton (104). FIG. 2A illustrates the corresponding screen image 100a, wherein the subjects, objects, and statements besides Joe Thornton(104) are hidden.

[0044] When the NEXT button 140 is chosen, method 400 determines thenext earliest start or stop property date (420) based on the storedcurrent active date and again the method 400 stores the date determinedas the current active date (422). If a start property is the nextearliest date, as determined at 424, the display of the correspondingsubjects, objects and/or predicates is added (426) to the screen image.When 424 determines that a stop property is the next earliest date, thedisplay of the corresponding subjects, objects and/or predicates ishidden (428) from the screen image.

[0045] FIGS. 2B-I illustrates selection of the NEXT button 140 from FIG.2A. For FIG. 2B, the next earliest date (Nov. 4, 1929) corresponds to astart property for Louise Hensley. Thus, Louise Hensley (18) can beadded to the screen image. FIGS. 2C-G correspond to the start propertydates for statement 8 (“Joe Thornton married to (28) Louise Hensley”)(Sep. 17, 1955), Mike Thornton (May 29, 1957), Nancy Frier (Aug. 19,1958), statement 3 (“Mike Thornton married to (14) Nancy Frier”) (Nov.8, 1982), and Jason Thornton (Aug. 5, 1987), respectively. In oneembodiment, illustrated with particularity in FIGS. 2C and 2F, it can beseen that the “married to” predicate can also correspond to a change ofthe name property used to label the nodes for Louise Hensley and NancyFrier, respectively. Such name changes can be reflected in thestatements returned by APIs 214. For example, Table 2 includesadditional statements 3a, 3b, 8a and 8b associated with statements 3 and8, respectively, as indicated below in Table 2A. TABLE 2A Subject(Identifier) Start Predicate Object Statement Stop (Identifier)(Literal) Start Stop 3a. Person has Person name “Nancy Frier” Aug. 19,1958 Nov. 08, 1982 a name “Nancy Aug. 19, 1958 Frier” — 3b. Person hasPerson name “Nancy Nov. 02, 1982 a name “Nancy Aug. 19, 1958 Thornton”Thornton” — 8a. Person has Person name “Louise Nov. 04, 1929 Sep. 15,1955- a name “Louise Nov. 04, 1929 Hensley” Hensley” — b. Person has aPerson name “Louise Sep. 17, 1955 name “Louise Nov. 04, 1929 Thornton”Thornton” —

[0046] Continuing with the selection of NEXT from FIG. 2G, the nextearliest date corresponds to a stop property for Joe Thornton (Jun. 14,1992). Thus, in FIG. 2H, Joe Thornton (4) and the associated predicates“father” (6) and “married to” (28) are hidden. The selection of NEXTfrom FIG. 2H determines that the next earliest date corresponds to startdate (Feb. 15, 1994) for Noah Thornton (22). Thus, in FIG. 21 NoahThornton (22) is added, as well as predicates “father” (24) and “mother”(26).

[0047] When the PREV button 142 is chosen, the method 400 can hide (430)corresponding subjects, objects, and/or statements for the currentactive date when the current active date is a start property date, asdetermined at 432. When the current active date is a stop property date,the method 400 adds (434) the corresponding subjects, objects, and/orstatements for the current active date. The method 400 determines (436)and stores the previous earlier date as the current active date (438).It can be seen that selection of the PREV button 142 reverses theprocess described in relation with selection of the NEXT button 140 andthe sequence of screen images 100 b-i of FIGS. 2B-I.

[0048] When the END button 144 is chosen, the method 400 determines(440) the latest property date and store the latest date as the currentdate (442). Method 400 can displays (444) the subjects, predicates andobjects for the statements and hide (446) those subjects, objects, andstatements having stop properties equal to or less than the determinedcurrent date. FIG. 21 illustrates the resulting screen image 100 i whenthe user 202 chooses the END button 144 for the exemplary data of Table2 and Table 2A. In the embodiment of FIG. 4, the flow chart for method400 indicates that after displaying the appropriate screen image (as at418, 426, 428, 438 and 446) method 400 can return to 412 to awaitfurther button activations by user 202. User 202 can end the display orreturn to perform new queries using the file or view manipulation tools,such as pull down menus 132.

[0049] In addition to displaying time varying information as describedabove, the use of start and stop properties for the statements andresources can be used to filter the statements returned by APIs 214. Inthis embodiment, user 202 can specify a date, or range of dates with thequery at 402. APIs 214 can obtain the start and stop properties (404)and return the graphical representation data (406) for those statementshaving a lifetime that includes the date(s) specified. For example, user202 can specify the current date. Based on Table 2 and Table 2A, thelifetimes of statements 2-7, 3a, 3b, 8a and 8b include the current date,and those statements will be returned by APIs 214. Thus, it can be seenthat the screen image for the specified date can include screen image100 i of FIG. 2I.

[0050] For a specified range of dates, the APIs 214 can returnstatements having lifetimes that overlap the specified range of dates.For example, user 202 can specify dates in the range of Jan. 1, 1950 toJan. 1, 1990. Again using Table 2 and Table 2A, the lifetimes ofstatements 1-4, 6, 8, 3a, 3b, 8a and 8b can include the specified rangeand it can be seen that the screen image for the specified range caninclude screen image 100 g of FIG. 2G. While APIs 214 can typicallyreturn statements including the current date, the current date can beadjusted to provide for date ranges, without having to re-fetch thedata.

[0051] In one embodiment, scroll bar 136 of FIG. 1 can represent atimeline corresponding to the time from the earliest start property dateof the returned statements to the latest stop property date of thereturned statements. For the exemplary statements of Table 2 and Table2A, the scroll bar can represent a timeline from the birth of JoeThornton (Mar. 16, 1928) to the current date. Slide 146, illustrated inFIGS. 2A-I, can be positioned on scroll bar 136 and can correspond toselecting a date for the screen image to be presented. Slide 146 can beactivated when user 202 chooses one of the buttons 138-144, as indicatedin phantom at 448 in FIG. 4. Thus, slide 146 can be inactive or hiddenin screen image 100 of FIG. 1. For example, FIG. 2F illustrates slide146 positioned at Jan. 1, 1985, thus screen image 100 f can includestatements having lifetimes that include the date Jan. 1, 1985.

[0052] The systems and methods described herein may not be limited to aparticular hardware or software configuration. The techniques describedherein can be implemented in hardware or software, or a combinationthereof. The systems and methods can be implemented in one or morecomputer programs executing on one or more programmable computers, suchas may be exemplified by processor 208, servers 210, or APIs 214, amongothers, that include a processor, a storage medium readable by theprocessor (including volatile and non-volatile memory and/or storageelements), one or more input devices, and one or more output devices.

[0053] The computer programs, or programs, may be preferably implementedusing one or more high level procedural or object-oriented programminglanguages to communicate with a computer system; however, the program(s)can be implemented in assembly or machine language, if desired. Thelanguage can be compiled or interpreted. The computer program(s) can bepreferably stored on a storage medium or device (e.g., CD-ROM, harddisk, or magnetic disk) readable by a general or special purposeprogrammable computer for configuring and operating the computer whenthe storage medium or device is read by the computer to perform theprocedures described herein. The system can also be considered to beimplemented as a computer-readable storage medium, configured with acomputer program, where the storage medium so configured causes acomputer to operate in a specific and predefined manner.

[0054] As provided herein, the processor(s) can thus be embedded in oneor more devices that can be operated independently or together in anetworked environment, where the network can include, for example, aLocal Area Network (LAN), wide area network (WAN), and/or can include anintranet and/or the Internet and/or another network. The network(s) canbe wired or wireless or a combination thereof and can use one or morecommunications protocols to facilitate communications between thedifferent processors. The processors can be configured for distributedprocessing and can utilize, in some embodiments, a client-server modelas needed. Accordingly, the methods and systems can utilize multipleprocessors and/or processor devices, and the processor instructions canbe divided amongst such single or multiple processor/devices.

[0055] The device(s) or computer systems that integrate with theprocessor(s) can include, for example, a personal computer(s),workstation (e.g., Sun, HP), personal digital assistant (PDA), handhelddevice such as cellular telephone, laptop, handheld, or another devicecapable of being integrated with a processor(s) that can operate asprovided herein. Accordingly, the devices provided herein are notexhaustive and are provided for illustration and not limitation.

[0056] References to “a microprocessor” and “a processor”, or “themicroprocessor” and “the processor,” can be understood to include one ormore microprocessors that can communicate in a stand-alone and/or adistributed environment(s), and can thus can be configured tocommunicate via wired or wireless communications with other processors,where such one or more processor can be configured to operate on one ormore processor-controlled devices that can be similar or differentdevices. Furthermore, references to memory, unless otherwise specified,can include one or more processor-readable and accessible memoryelements and/or components that can be internal to theprocessor-controlled device, external to the processor-controlleddevice, and can be accessed via a wired or wireless network using avariety of communications protocols, and unless otherwise specified, canbe arranged to include a combination of external and internal memorydevices, where such memory can be contiguous and/or partitioned based onthe application. Accordingly, references to a database can be understoodto include one or more memory associations, where such references caninclude commercially available database products (e.g., SQL, Informix,Oracle) and also proprietary databases, and may also include otherstructures for associating memory such as links, queues, graphs, trees,with such structures provided for illustration and not limitation.

[0057] References to a network, unless provided otherwise, can includeone or more intranets and/or the Internet. References herein tomicroprocessor instructions or microprocessor-executable instructions,in accordance with the above, can be understood to include programmablehardware.

[0058] While the method and systems have been disclosed in connectionwith the preferred embodiments shown and described in detail, variousmodifications and improvements thereon will become readily apparent tothose skilled in the art. As an example, those with ordinary skill inthe art will recognize that the arrangement and connectivity of thecomponents shown in the figures are merely for illustrative purposes,and can be varied accordingly and components may be combined orotherwise reconfigured without departing from the scope of the disclosedsystems and methods. Accordingly, many additional changes in the detailsand arrangement of parts, herein described and illustrated, can be madeby those skilled in the art. It will thus be understood that thefollowing claims are not to be limited to the embodiments disclosedherein, can include practices otherwise than specifically described, andare to be interpreted as broadly as allowed under the law.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method of displaying on adisplay Semantic Web statements having start properties and stopproperties related to lifetimes of said statements, comprising:displaying subjects and objects of said statements as nodes; displayingpredicates of said statements as arcs connecting said nodes; and hidingsaid nodes and said arcs for particular ones of said statements when aselected display timeframe is outside said lifetimes of said particularones of said statements.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein hidingcomprises painting said nodes and arcs for said particular ones of saidstatements to match a background of said display.
 3. The method of claim1 comprising providing tools for a user to select said timeframe.
 4. Themethod of claim 3, wherein said tools include providing said user withan option to select a start timeframe corresponding to an earliest oneof said start properties of said statements.
 5. The method of claim 4,wherein said tools include providing said user with an option to selectan end timeframe corresponding to a latest one of said stop propertiesof said statements.
 6. The method of claim 5, wherein said tools includeproviding said user with an option to select at least one timeframeincrement for displaying said statements in temporal order correspondingto said start properties and said stop properties of said statements. 7.The method of claim 1, comprising labeling each of said nodes with avalue of a literal property of said node dependent on said startproperty and said stop property of said statement associated with saidnode.
 8. A system for displaying graphical representations of timevarying information for Semantic Web structured statements, comprising.a processor connected to at least one Semantic Web resource andreceiving input from a user, said input including a query to retrieveselected ones of said statements matching said query; at least oneapplication program interface (API) determining said selected ones ofsaid statements from said at least one Semantic Web structured resource,said API obtaining start and stop properties for subjects, objects, andstatements of said selected ones of said matching statements, said APIdetermining graphical representation data from said selected ones ofsaid statements and said properties, said start and stop propertiesdefining lifetimes of said statements; and a display connected to saidprocessor, said processor receiving said graphical representation datafrom said at least one API and controlling said display to presentgraphical representations of said selected ones of said statements saidinput from said user including a timeframe, said processor controllingsaid display to hide said graphical representations of determined onesof said statements when said timeframe is outside said lifetimes of saiddetermined ones of said statements.
 9. The system of claim 8, furthercomprising an application tool set operable by said user to input saidtimeframe, wherein said user can select timeframe incrementscorresponding to said start properties and said stop properties of saidselected ones of said statements.
 10. A method of displaying graphicalrepresentations of time varying information for Semantic Web structuredstatements from at least one Semantic Web resource, comprising:receiving a query to retrieve selected ones of said statements matchingsaid query; determining said selected ones of said statements from saidat least one Semantic Web structured resource; obtaining start and stopproperties for subjects and objects of said selected ones of saidstatements, said start and stop properties defining lifetimes of saidstatements; determining graphical representation data for said selectedones of said statements and said properties; filtering said graphicalrepresentation data to control a display to present graphicalrepresentations of said selected ones of said statements; andcontrolling the display to hide said graphical representations ofdetermined ones of said statements when lifetimes of said determinedones of said statements exclude a selected timeframe.
 11. Acomputer-readable medium comprising instructions for controlling aprocessor to associate a lifetime with a Semantic Web structuredstatement by: implementing a start property for said statement denotinga start time when said statement becomes valid; and implementing a stopproperty for said statement denoting a stop time when said statementceases to be valid, a time interval between said start time and saidstop time denoting said lifetime of said statement.
 12. Thecomputer-readable medium of claim 11, further comprising instructionsfor controlling a processor to implement said start property and saidstop property as a datatype taken from a listing of XML Schema Datatypesincluding an xsd:dateTime datatype, an xsd:date datatype and anxsd:gYear datatype.
 13. The computer-readable medium of claim 11,further comprising instructions for controlling a processor to display aplurality of said statements on a display by: displaying subjects andobjects of said statements as nodes; displaying predicates of saidstatements as arcs connecting said nodes; and hiding said nodes and saidarcs for particular ones of said statements when a selected displaytimeframe is outside said lifetimes of said particular ones of saidstatements.
 14. The computer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein theinstructions further comprise instructions for controlling a processorto hide said nodes and said arcs by painting said nodes and said arcsfor said particular ones of said statements to match a background ofsaid display.
 15. The computer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein theinstructions further comprise instructions for controlling a processorto display a toolset operable by a user to select said timeframe. 16.The computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the instructionsfurther comprise instructions to control a processor to display atoolset operable by a user to select a start timeframe corresponding toan earliest one of said start properties of said statements.
 17. Thecomputer-readable medium of claim 16, wherein the instructions furthercomprise instructions to control a processor to display a toolsetoperable by a user to select an end timeframe corresponding to a latestone of said stop properties of said statements.
 18. Thecomputer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the instructions furthercomprise instructions to control a processor to display a toolsetoperable by a user to select at least one timeframe increment fordisplaying said statements in temporal order corresponding to said startproperties and said stop properties of said statements.